The present invention relates generally to brake control valves for the air brakes of a vehicle and more specifically to an improvement of access to a manual valve on pipe brackets.
In recent years, single sided pipe brackets have been introduced into the United States Rail Industry. The present design used is illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 and described in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 5,544,854. A pipe bracket 2 is mounted to a car body 4 by a pair of identical mounting brackets or pedestals 6 and 7. Fasteners 10 connect the mounting legs 8 of the pedestal to the car body. The pipe bracket 2 is mounted to the pedestal by bolts 12. A front face 14 of the pipe bracket 2 receives the control valve service portion 16 and the emergency portion 18 in a side-by-side relationship. The back face 20 of the pipe bracket receives the typical piping required to bring air to and to direct air from the respective control valve service and emergency portions. A cut out cock or valve 22 is mounted to the back face of the pipe bracket 2. The cut out valve 22 includes a ball valve rotatable through an angle of approximately 90 degrees to establish an open and close position of the cut out valve. The rotation is controlled by a lever or handle 24 which hangs vertically from its connection with the cut out valve in the open position and is disposed horizontally in the closed position.
Because the cut out valve 22 is mounted and displaced from the side of the pipe bracket 2, access to the handle 24 requires the operator to reach below the pipe bracket to operate the handle. To alleviate this problem or provide access from the front, a handle operating mechanism 26 is described specifically in U.S. Pat. No. 5,544,854.
The stem of the cut out valve 22, extending exterior of the body and connected to the valve element, is not standard in that it is drilled and tapped to accept a cap screw to attach the L-shaped handle 24 to the stem. This makes the cut out valve non-standard. In the event the cut out valve becomes broken and needs replacing, it cannot be substituted and used with the handle operating mechanism 26 since the stem is not drilled and tapped. The U.S. Rail Industry demands commonality in their products to ensure that loaded freight cars are not stranded by non-common parts.
It should also be noted that the handle operating mechanism 26 when viewed from the front is an extended or non-extended position for its open and closed positions. This is different than the vertical when open and horizontal when closed standard for these valves. Thus, making it acceptable to visual misinterpretation of its position. It should also be noted that the handle operating mechanism 26 is located in a cramped position between the emergency portion vent, the bottom of the pipe bracket 2 and the pedestal 7 and mounting lugs 8. Further reference to the other detail of this prior art device should be made to the U.S. Pat. No. 5,544,854.
Realizing that access to the handle of the dirt collector and cut-off valve was inconveniently located, another design of a single sided pipe bracket was developed and described U.S. Pat. No. 5,478,142. The cut-off valve was mounted on the back face adjacent to the side of the pipe bracket thereby allowing access to the operating handle of the cut-off valve adjacent the side of the pipe bracket. This particular design was not the design adopted by the industry. The design of FIGS. 1 and 2 was.
The present invention is to provide a conversion or extension kit to be used with standard manual valves using standard elements to provide access to a manual valve at the side of the pipe bracket. The manual valve mounted to the pipe bracket includes a stem connected to the valve element and having a key. A handle has an opening for mating with a key. An extension shaft is provided having a first end for mating with the key of the stem and having a second end for mating with the opening of the handle. This allows use of the standard valve and standard handle with an extension shaft therebetween.
The extension shaft is configured such that the second end extends past the side of the bracket. This provides access to the handle at the side of the pipe bracket. The extension is configured such that the handle assumes the same open and closed positions mated to the shaft as it would mated to the stem.
An additional bracket or handle bracket is provided and mounted to the control valve. The extension shaft is pivotally mounted to the handle bracket. The handle bracket is mounted to control valve by fasteners which are already present on the control valve. The handle bracket may be mounted to the control valve by fasteners that connect the pipe bracket to the mounting bracket. Alternatively, the handle bracket may be mounted to the control valve by fasteners that connect the mounting bracket to the vehicle. As a third alternative, the handle bracket may be mounted to the control valve by fasteners that connect the manual valve to the pipe bracket. As a fourth alternative, the handle bracket may be mounted to the manual valve by fasteners that connect the cover of the manual valve to the body of the manual valve and thus to the control valve. This stabilizes the extension shaft.
As an alternative, an L-shaped handle may be provided, which also has an opening to be mated with the second end of the shaft. The L-shaped handle extends from the second end of the shaft towards the pipe bracket. This provides access closer to the front face of the pipe bracket.
The extension shaft, with or without the handle bracket, may be provided as a kit to retrofit on existing dirt collector and cut-off valves or may be provided as part of a new brake control valves which has the standard dirt collector and cut-off valve mounted to a back face.
Although the extension has been designed for the dirt collector and cut-off valve or cock on the single sided pipe bracket, the invention of using an extension shaft, which mates pre-existing stems of the manually operated valve with its handle and if needed a handle bracket, can be used on any valve on a railroad brake system.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.